A Very Fringe Christmahanufestivus: The Sequel
by Hannibal the Animal
Summary: Lo presents this year's four part winter holiday story followup to the very popular Christmahanufestivus story last year! Walstrid
1. Hanukkah

**Chapter Title:** _Hanukah_

**Pairing: **_Peter/Liv,__Kashner/Astrid, Astrid/Walter_

**Characters: **_Astrid F, Olivia D, Peter B, Walter B, Agent Kashner_

**POV:**_ Peter, Astrid_

**Genres: **_Holiday, Family/Friends, Humour, Romance_

**Spoilers: **_Seasons One & Two, 'A Very Fringe Christmahanufestivus_

**Warnings:** _Language?_

**Challenges:** _Hanukkah, December 19 2009_

**Part of a Series?:** _Yes, "A Very Fringe Holiday"_

**Chapters: **_¼_

* * *

Peter's hands were full of shopping bags that had been stored away since last year and as Walter—who couldn't be bothered to carry more than his hot chocolate—chattered away, Peter attempted unlocking the door to the laboratory only to find it already open.

Still bundled up in her coat and scarf stood Astrid stuffing files in her purse, looking somewhat like a deer caught in a car's headlights. Walter shoved past Peter roughly to hurry over to her.

"Ah! My dear—you're just who I was looking for! I need coffee filters (white), red felt poms, artichokes, pink lemonade, pepper corns, red sequined pasties in the shape of stars, iced tea spoons, Elmer's glue, a stuffed polar bear, two fresh squirrel hearts, a six pack of light bulbs, festive but nondenominational cocktail napkins—"

She put a gloved finger to his lips and gave an apologetic smile. "Walter, I was actually just leaving. I was going to call you guys on my way to the airport."

Peter was somewhat taken aback. "Airport?"

She began moving slowly to the door. "I got called up to help Agent Kashner with his report on that case you did a few months ago. Broyles said I was the only one he could really spare from the team…"

Walter looked absolutely heartbroken. "But…my Hanukah party…"

"I'm really sorry." She glanced down at her watch and touched his shoulder softly. "I have to leave right now to make my flight."

"Call us when you get to Seattle," Peter said with a smile.

"Please hurry back," Walter begged.

Paused in the doorway of the lab, she promised, "I will."

The door opened a moment later and while Peter expected it to be Astrid returning for something forgotten, it was merely Olivia with her own morning coffee and a fresh pot of poinsettias. "Where is Astrid off to is such a hurry?"

"She just went out to pick up some supplies," Walter said, wiping at his eyes with the hem of his sleeve and threw his hot chocolate on the floor, running off to lock himself in the bathroom.

"What's with him?" the agent asked, a confused smile quirking her lips as she set the poinsettias on one of the nearby worktables.

"Astrid's going off to Seattle—wait, are you wearing your holiday sweater?" Peter asked, pulling at the neckline of her parka to see if she was in fact wearing the travesty the Bishops had bought her last year.

Her face went beet red and she hurried with her coffee to the office; Peter completely forgot about his father as he went off to heckle the blonde about her unfortunate declaration of holiday cheer.

* * *

A tall man holding a carefully written sign with her name on it waited by the luggage claim, bearing a sunny smile as he waved at Astrid when she hurried over to find her purple suitcase.

"Agent Farnsworth!" he called out.

She couldn't help but smile, too. "Agent Kashner!"

For a moment they seemed torn between hugging and shaking hands, so they settled on friendly nods; both still felt weird about the whole experience he'd had at their lab.

"How are you? Good flight?" he asked as he carried her suitcase for her.

"I'm good. I played Animal Crossing the whole way over," she said, patting the trusty DS in her purse.

"That's great. The weather has been a bit touchy this morning so I was really keeping my fingers crossed that you wouldn't be delayed or rerouted—let me get the door for you," he offered, letting her walk through first.

"I've missed being treated like a lady—you really spoiled me when you were back in Boston," she teased as they walked through the parking lot—god knows Walter wouldn't have done it. "I guess chivalry isn't dead."

His smile became wider and when they reached his car in the parking garage, he not only put her luggage in the back, but opened her passenger door for her.

A small chirp from her pocket made him stare at her when he started up the car. "What's that noise?"

She rolled her eyes. "My cellphone—it's dying. I'll charge it when I get to the office."

"I had them move a desk for you into my office. We can work together!" he said cheerfully.

Her own desk? As apposed to fighting for a worktable with Walter? "Great!"

"Almost everyone's gone for the holidays, so we'll pretty much have the place to ourselves," he said matter-of-factly.

She smiled and looked out the window at a residential street that was smattered with conifers. "I've been imagining that because you live in the Pacific Northwest, your field office is just full of wreathes and garlands and fresh pine—"

"No, we keep things nondenominational here. Don't want to offend anyone," he said as he put on the turn signal.

Astrid was shocked. "Nothing?"

"Nope!"

"Oh," she said sadly.

"Do they decorate the Boston field office?" he asked curiously.

She thought of the flurry of paper snowflakes, the Christmas tree, and the sweaters that they'd enjoyed last year at the lab and that as she'd been running out this morning, Walter and Peter had been bringing in all those ornaments she'd bought…she kept back a disappointed sigh.

"No. They don't."

Once at the field office, which truly was devoid of people save an occasional agent they passed in the halls. Her phone beeped at her repeatedly and once they reached what appeared to be Kashner's new personal office, she dug through her purse to find her power cord only to discover…

"My cell phone charger. I must not have packed it. Shit!" she complained, then quickly apologised. "Pardon my language."

"Is it the same kind as mine? I have a handful of chargers from my previous cell phones and maybe one of those will work," he offered.

"I bet it's still on my kitchen counter," she groaned, putting her fingers to her forehead. "I need to call Peter super quick to tell him I'm here."

Kashner nodded and began to dig chargers and cords out of one of his file drawers as she hit the speed dial button to call Peter's cell. Thankfully he picked up after two rings.

"Hey! I arrived all in one piece!" she greeted and she could hear Peter make a sigh of relief.

"Great! I saw the weather report and it looked pretty iffy, but I guess it missed you by about ten minutes. Hey, was that kielbasa in the fridge any good?"

"No. I threw it out two days ago. Did Walter dig it out of the garbage?" she asked, planting on hand on her hip.

"He must have. I told him it didn't smell right when he was cooking it. He's trying to rid the lab of non-kosher food before the party."

She laughed. "Where is he?"

"Walking off the stomach cramp."

Her phone chirped again and she realised it was probably going to cut out.

"Hey Peter, my cell phone's dying and I left my phone charger at home," she said quickly.

"Do you want me to mail it over to you?"

She shook her head."No, I'm just going to buy another. But if you need to reach me, call me on Kashner's phone. You should still have his card."

"'kay."

"I miss you guys! I can't wait to come ho—" the phone cut off and she finished softly, "—me."

* * *

The lab was definitely different without Astrid there. Walter was still holed up in the bathroom and Peter grimaced because he could imagine the older man unrolling all the toilet paper, huffing the cleaning supplies, or worse with the amount of time he was in there. At least Astrid's questioning would have enlightened them as to what he was doing.

"Look what I found!" Olivia called out from the office and he turned around to see a treasured holiday icon in her hand.

"Ah, the Hanukah hula hoop," Peter said with a fond smile.

She spared him a mischievous smile as she slipped into it. "Wanna do a competition?"

Peter knew he could do for a break from the 'worrying about Walter' situation. "Sure!"

* * *

Astrid set her pen down firmly on top of the stack of papers Kashner has happily organised on her desk. "I need a break. I can't focus."

Kashner, who looked up at her with wide-eyed curiosity, didn't pause in his writing. "Is there anything I can do?"

She glanced around the dour, beige room they shared. "I think it's this office."

He set his pen down as well. "What do you need?"

She thought for a second and a sly smile crossed her lips. "Can we take an early lunch break?"

* * *

"C'mon, Walter. I thought you wanted to decorate the Christmas tree," Peter asked as he pointed over to the fresh pine tree they'd bought earlier that morning.

His father sat on the steps of the lap, his face balanced in his hands, elbows on his knees. "No."

"Are you going to just sit here and pout?" Olivia asked, obviously trying to help (she was also no longer hiding the fact she was wearing that hideous sweater).

"Yes," he said sourly.

Peter rubbed his father's back. "Who's going to make the latkes? I thought you had a party all planned out."

"It doesn't work with just three people. I don't like being the third wheel," he muttered, glancing between him and Olivia.

"You can have a party with three people. Besides, Gene's here! Doesn't she count for something? She came to my birthday party, after all," Peter pointed out.

"Walter, don't you think Astrid would love to come back to the lab and see it's all decorated?" Olivia added sweetly.

Walter huffed slightly and his lips threatened a pout, but finally he agreed and Peter put his arm around Olivia's shoulder as they watched the older man wander off to find the ornaments and decorations that they'd brought in earlier.

* * *

"So what's the hula hoop for again?" Kashner asked her with a somewhat skeptic tone as he looked up at her.

Astrid was standing on top of her desk, swaying her hips circularly as a hot pink hula-hoop orbited her waist. "It helps me think."

His eyes left her body momentarily to glance behind her. "And the record player?"

"Same thing." She hummed along to the music and then began singing with Vera Lynn. "I'm in the mood for love! Simply because you're _near me_!"

He glanced around his new decorated office and she could see the small fake Christmas tree, the tinsel, and the basket of fruit was making him uncomfortable. "So this is how you work back in Boston? All this…chaos?"

"Oh, trust me—this is nothing," she assured him. "Oh! Idea!" As she hula-hooped, she verbalised her brainstorming. "Maybe we should say that the implants had nothing to do with it. That the doctor was able to, um, brainwash them into committing these acts. I don't want this to become a witchhunt for people using new technology. This guy was just a bad apple and there's a no reason he has to ruin it for everyone."

"I hadn't thought of that." He glanced up from his notes and smiled at her. "If it works for you, then it works for me."


	2. Christmas

**Chapter Title:** _Christmas_

**Pairing: **_Peter/Liv,__Astrid/Kashner, Astrid/Walter_

**Characters: **_Astrid F, Olivia D, Peter B, Walter B, Agent Kashner, Rachel (Dunham), Ella (Dunham)_

**POV: **_Astrid, Peter, Walter, Olivia, Rachel_

**Genres: **_Holiday, Family/Friends, Humour, Romance_

**Spoilers: **_Seasons One & Two, 'A Very Fringe Christmahanufestivus_

**Warnings:** _mild sexual humour_

**Challenges:** _Christmas and Christmas Eve_

**Part of a Series?:** _Yes, "A Very Fringe Holiday"_

**Chapters: **_2/4_

**Word count:** _3632_

* * *

Astrid smiled as a now familiar car pulled up in front of the hotel she was currently staying at; leaning across the passenger seat, Agent Kashner opened the door for her and she hurried into the warm car. Christmas carols were playing and he offered her a large paper cup of coffee.

"Latte, soymilk, hazelnut and cinnamon," he recited happily and her smile deepened.

"You're too good!" she laughed as she buckled in and took a sip—living in the city that hosted Starbucks' headquarters meant she had an abundance of java to try from; Kashner was introducing her to a different flavour every day.

"A good cup of coffee is an important way to start the day," he said as he pulled out into traffic. "And happy Christmas Eve to you."

Astrid almost choked on her coffee. "Christmas Eve! Oh my gosh, I didn't even realise! Have I really been here for a week?"

"Yes, and I hope you're loving every minute of it."

She scoffed. "Yeah, I can't imagine loving anything more than preparing to stand in front of a bunch of people that want me to explain what exactly happened to those people with the implants. They don't believe in it in the first place, so instead we have to make up something to take it's place.

"And I can't believe we've canvassed almost every store in this city that sells cell phone power cords and not one has had the type I need in stock," Astrid added in frustration.

That was what really pissed her off—she hated being cut off from her family and other assorted loved ones.

"To be fair, some of those stores are closed for the holidays," Kashner said.

"Very true." Astrid peered into her purse at the unusable cell phone and began to lament. "Oh cell phone, why do you have to be so obscure in your power supply? I can't buy you another battery or another charger because I got you off the internet."

Kashner passed her a biscotti wrapped in wax paper. "I feel bad the only disposable phone we could find is on the fritz. It's like someone doesn't want you to call Boston."

Her mind drifted to Walter; she had a million things to tell him, from the sandwiches to the weather to how she loved the fact she had her own personal desk here. She also missed listening to someone babble about frog brains, hallucinogens, and the best way to cook spaghetti noodles.

"Tell me about it," she muttered.

* * *

"And don't forget! We need to pick up coffee for my assistant! I want to surprise her," Walter insisted as he worked on tying his tie as he followed Peter around their kitchen.

Peter sighed. "Walter, Astrid's not coming back today. I've told you this a thousand times. I don't even know why you want to go to the lab today. We have the day off."

"She'll know I appreciate her when I give her the coffee. She likes hers with fresh cream and chocolate shavings on top—no other way!" his father continued as if he didn't hear a word he had said.

"Walter…" Peter poured himself coffee in a travel mug.

"Though maybe I'll surprise her with miniature marshmallows," the older man mused.

"Walter." Peter stopped him and gently began to tie Walter's tie. "Astrid isn't coming back until January. She told you that in the email yesterday."

"She's mistaken. January is very far away," his father said in a flustered tone. "Build me up buttercup, don't break my heart…"

* * *

"So you have to work on Christmas Eve?" Rachel asked sadly.

"Yep," Olivia lied as she fixed her scarf in the entrance mirror.

It was actually that she was feeling cooped up at home, still not used to having her sister and her niece bustle around her; they were social butterflies and Olivia…well, she was an introvert at best.

"That sucks!" Rachel said with a laugh.

"Don't go, Aunt Liv!" Ella begged and while Olivia felt dreadful, she absolutely needed some time to herself.

"Maybe I'll see Santa along the way and he'll let me give you a present early!" she teased her niece.

"Ooh!" the little girl squealed and went tearing off to the Christmas tree

Set to go, Olivia gave Rachel a hug and told her, "I'll be back around three."

Olivia was lost in thought the majority of the drive to Harvard, pondering how she was going to spend her time alone in the lab. Paper work? Watch tv? Catch up on the studying Walter thought she needed to do? She decided that she would probably end up cleaning—she hadn't realised how neat Astrid kept the place until she was gone.

However, she was very surprised to find the door to the lab unlocked and as she walked in, she realised that Peter was there, looking just as surprised as her.

"Oh. Hey. What are you doing here?" she said, still standing in the doorway.

He lost the 'deer-in-headlights' look and scratched his arm. "I could ask you the same."

"I was coming to get out of the flat—"

the door to her makeshift office burst open and out came Walter, balancing a paper cup of coffee in his hand.

"Agent Farnsworth! I brought you…" Walter's face fell as he saw Olivia, "coffee."

"Don't look so sad to me," she said, somewhat hurt for being snubbed.

"I was just hoping…you didn't happen to see Agent Farnsworth in the hallways, did you?" he asked optimistically.

"No. I thought she wasn't coming back 'til after the New Year?" Olivia gave Peter a puzzled look as she began to take off her warm winter coat.

"She isn't. Walter has it in his head that she can ditch her work for his parties," Peter said as the older scientist furrowed his brow.

"She's doesn't like to miss parties. She enjoys balloons and treats and presents…"

Walter wandered off with the coffee, muttering to himself and Peter smirked.

"I'm betting she won't come back after seeing how a sane job looks."

"Hah, she's hardly called us! I bet she's going to call us up and tell us she's staying, that we need to box up her stuff and send it over," Olivia chuckled as she watched Walter put a new salt lick in Gene's stall.

"Hey guys!" Peter said in a high-pitched voice to imitate Astrid's. "I'm sick of hanging out with you nerds and playing with dead bodies! I'm going to Seattle!"

"They have Starbucks there!" Olivia added her voice as high-pitched as Peter's Astrid tone.

"And rain!"

"And a Space Needle!"

"And Kashner hasn't gotten me in any dangerous situations!" Peter finished.

They looked at one another and Peter pulled out his cellphone, quickly dialing up Astrid's number.

"Hi, Astrid. This is Peter," he said into her voicemail.

Olivia leaned her head close to the phone and called out, "And Olivia."

"We just wanted to let you know that we appreciate everything you do here."

"And that you always have something friendly to say," she added.

Peter smiled slightly as he said, "We miss you."

Olivia crossed her fingers. "Hurry back!"

* * *

In the middle of practicing the presentation they planned on giving the board they were supposed to answer to, Agent Kashner interrupted himself and said to Astrid, "I was wondering if…you wanted to skip pizza tomorrow night?"

The office was somewhat dark as they had a powerpoint presentation on the projector screen behind Kashner's desk and Astrid was leaning back in her very comfortable office chair, though she sat up when he said this.

Feeling somewhat hurt, she leaned her crossed arms on her desk and acted as casual as she could manage. "Oh yeah. I'm sure you've got family to spend—"

Kashner had unfortunately paused the slides on a very large picture of a chef with large stab wounds as he shook his head. "No, no. I meant, I thought that we could skip the pizza tomorrow so that I could…take you out to dinner?"

Even with the minimal lighting Astrid could see the fellow agent was blushing and she felt her own cheeks flush. "Oh!"

He lowered his eyes and fumbled around with the powerpoint projector's remote. "You'll have to get dressed up—not that you don't look nice! But it's the holidays, you know."

Astrid was stuck somewhere between being dumbfounded and incredibly flattered. When was the last time anyone had taken her out to dinner?

"I…I don't think I've anything packed," she finally admitted, unable to fight the smile on her lips. "Would you mind if I borrowed the car? I think I'll probably need to buy something."

He was smiling shyly and pulled the car keys out of his jacket pocket. "Sure."

* * *

"What is the picture supposed to be again?" Walter asked as he looked at the puzzle he and Peter were working on.

"Reindeer standing in the snow."

"Oh! There aren't any nipples at all!" he said in absolute shock.

His son looked up at him. "What?! No—what kind of puzzle did you think was?!"

"I don't know, Peter. That's why I asked!" Walter grumbled, tempted to add '_duh_' at the end of the sentence.

Olivia, who had been quietly working on a tinkertoy sculpture for him at the work table next to them, stepped aside and revealed her creation. "How does this look, Walter?"

"Wonderful!" Walter admired the large cylinder she'd made. "That is called a 'buckytube'. It's the shape a carbon nanotube takes."

"What do you want me to do with it?" Olivia asked.

"Hmmm? Oh! Please decorate it with these." Walter pulled out a box that he'd been keeping down by his feet.

She took the box and looked into it. "Test tubes? How?"

He pointed to a roll of green and red striped ribbon mixed into the box. "Tie them on with the Christmas ribbon. Use pretty bows."

"What are you having her make it for, anyway?" his son asked.

"It's festive, Peter. My assistant would have gladly done it without question!" He tossed his nippleless puzzle piece onto the table and stood up. "Give me your phone."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I'm going to try to call her!" he snapped angrily and his son sighed, handing over his cell phone.

Walter found the small list of phone numbers his son had made for him when he traveled to Chinatown and went off to the storage room for privacy before he dialed the phone number that Peter highlighted in pink.

The phone rang five times and for a moment when it stopped he thought she must have picked up, but it was nothing more than her voice mail. "This is Agent Astrid Farnsworth. Sorry I've missed you! Please leave your name, number and message after the beep!"

Beep!

He hadn't realised how much he'd missed the sound of her voice and focused on the fact that he was so relieved to hear it that his eyes were watering before he remembered he ought to say something. "Oh! Yes! Hello. This is Walter. I was calling to…" what had he been calling to do? "To talk," he decided. "It's just nice knowing you're here in the lab with me. Well, I mean to say, I know you're not here right _now_, but when you're here it's nice to not be alone." He mulled for a moment, wondering what she might possibly be up to and his brow furrowed. "So I suppose you're having a good time with _him_. Does he do things, like bring you coffee? I bet he doesn't. I think of those things and he doesn't even use the scientific method for smelling fumes! You're supposed to waft them towards you with your hand. He didn't. That's why he passed out, you know." He pushed the bitterness aside for a moment. "But I know you're clever enough not to inhale directly." He paused to look at his thumbnail—he probably needed to wash his hands. "What were we talking about again?"

Beep!

He jerked his head away from the phone, startled and realised he'd run out of allotted time on his message, so he dialed the number again and eagerly listened to her voice. "This is Agent Astrid Farnsworth. Sorry I've missed you! Please leave your name, number and message after the beep!"

Beep!

"Hello, this is Walter," he started again. "As I was saying, I thought I would tell you that the ice cream machine is on the fritz again. I have no idea what's wrong with it—maybe we have to get it fixed at the ice cream machine shop." He chuckled. "There's no ice cream machine shop. That was a joke." He pushed the toe of his shoe against the leg of the table. "I was wondering if you might come back today? It's Christmas Eve and we'd like you back at the lab. It's boring and Peter wrecked your hula hoop. It split in half and Agent Dunham tried to tape it back up, but it looks silly. But don't cry! I'll get you another one." He looked at the paper snowflakes taped around the lab. "I'm not boring you, am I? I really wanted to have a Christmas dinner with you. Peter and I are going to be alone tomorrow night—we're going to have dinner with Olivia and her family on the day after. Not Boxing Day. Did you know that Boxing Day is always the first weekday after Christmas? It's celebrated mostly in the British Commonweal—"

Beep!

Walter frowned at the phone and dialed the number a third time, this time resolved not to waste time and tell he what he really wanted to say.

"This is Agent Astrid Farnsworth. Sorry I've missed you! Please leave your name, number and message after the beep!"

"Agent Farnsworth, this is Walter Bishop. I'm calling to tell you…"

* * *

At the store's register, Astrid debated using her credit card and probably maxing it out or the credit card issued to her by Broyles for emergencies. The dress and shoes she was buying were stupidly expensive but they were the ONLY things in her size still left on Christmas Eve.

"How on earth am I going to write this off?" she grumbled as she finally handed over the FBI's card to the eager clerk.

"_Well," _she supposed, _"they did make me miss the Hanukkah party and_ _Christmas at home… and I could always leave the tags on and return it later…"_

"Have a happy holiday!" the clerk said as she handed back the card, the wrapped bag and the receipt.

"Thank you," Astrid said with a sigh.

* * *

Ella shook Olivia awake on Christmas morning at far too early an hour for her to be comfortable, but it was Christmas and the excitement bursting from her niece was infectious. So Olivia and Rachel sat half awake on the couch, sipping coffee as they watched the four year old screaming with delight as she opened gift after gift and Olivia smiled sleepily, recalling Yule gone past when she and Rachel were opening presents of dolls and stuffed animals and toy tea sets…

Rachel smiled fondly as her sister fell back asleep on the couch.

* * *

It was Christmas night and after spending most of the morning and all of the afternoon trying to call Peter, the Lab, and Olivia, the news notified her that due to the weather, most of Boston's telephone lines were down. She sighed sadly, very disappointed she couldn't wish everyone a merry Christmas. However, she did make a quick phone call to both Peter's cell phone and Olivia's to leave a message of her singing "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Hark! The Harold Angels Sing" respectively—needless to say, she knew the long distance phone calls alone were going to cost a fortune and would probably be their presents for the holidays.

As Astrid got ready for the dinner, she wondered if she might be overdressed. Her dress made her think of the fringed flapper dresses from the twenties, only it was the green colour of a key lime pie. Maybe a little short for winter, but what did that matter, right? It wasn't as if she'd be out in the snow! The shoes were glittery silver sandals, which were going to be frigid once she stepped outside but style had its price, she supposed. She wrapped herself in her peacoat and headed out the door.

At exactly seven, Agent Kashner picked her up in front of the hotel and as always, opened the door for her. The car was warm and he had on a cd of Christmas songs being played by a music box. Light snow was beginning to fall and she decided that the evening couldn't be any nicer than if she'd been back in Boston.

"So where are we headed tonight?" she asked, smiling.

He winked. "It's a surprise."

A ten minute drive later brought them to a tall building and as the valet took the car, Astrid realised he was taking her somewhere _very_ nice. The inside of the restaurant reminded her of the grand French architecture she had seen when she did study abroad in Paris. Cathedral ceilings, gilt everything, and rich robin blue silk took her breath away.

"Ben…this place is beautiful!" Astrid gasped, letting Kashner's given name slip as she looked around.

He looked incredibly pleased as he helped her out of her coat. "I wasn't sure if you would like it.

She felt a little silly standing in such an elegant establishment while wearing something citrus green, that maybe she should have picked something more conservative, but apparently Kashner disagreed.

"Wow!" He stopped and looked her over once more. "I mean…_wow_. You look _great_."

Astrid blushed, though she was a little surprised he'd said 'you look great' and not 'you look like lime peel' or 'a mint julep', but then she remembered that this was Kashner and not Walter.

"You don't look have so bad yourself," she said shyly. "I like your tie."

"Thanks! My brother bought it for me last year," he said, looking down at the red silk with small green Christmas trees woven in.

The hostess approached them and said, "Your table is ready, sir."

Kashner offered out his arm. "Shall we?"

Astrid slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow as they were led to a table in the grand dining room. Ever the gentleman, he pulled her chair out for her; the waiter handed them the menus, took their order for drinks and left, leaving them in silence as they studied the food. After a few minutes, Kashner looked up at her and asked,

"What are you going to order?"

"I think I'll try…the linguini in squid ink with tomatoes and feta," Astrid decided with a smile.

He laughed and when she gave him a puzzled look, his eyes widened. "Oh, I thought you were joking."

"Not a fan of seafood?" she asked as she shut her menu.

"I'm not very adventurous. I would've never picked that."

"So what are you getting?" she asked, taking a sip of water from the wine glass that had been placed in front of her setting.

"The chicken. I'm a creature of habit," he said simply and gave her the sweet smile she'd come to expect from him.

They made small talk after their food was ordered, but Astrid found it hard to think of topics that they could possibly discuss that didn't involve work, so she listened to him talk about how he had grown up in the Pacific North West his whole life, that he'd been an Eagle Scout, that he'd worked in a candy shop during high school, that he'd gone to Notre Dame for college. It was interesting but she kept waiting for him to say something like "I sometimes tried to signal UFOs from my backyard" or "I hunt for DB Cooper's loot on the weekends", something unusual, but it never came. Finally their food arrived, her plate a glorious twist of black, red, and white, his a conservative chicken breast dinner.

"Open wide," she said, holding a forkful of the black noodles across the table.

He hesitantly opened his mouth and accepted the food. Midway through his first chew, he made a face and spit it out in his napkin.

"Yuck."

Astrid begin to giggle loudly as he drank down the rest of his water to wash the taste out of his mouth; Walter, she knew, would have probably taken the rest of her plate and told her a story about the Kool Aid Man.

* * *

"Peter, this pizza is boring," Walter said as he worked on his third slice of anchovy and pineapple.

The two Bishop men were sitting on the couch at their new rental, the television on mute.

"I know," Peter admitted.

"We should invite Olivia over. She'd probably want a slice."

Peter had already tried to call, but it appeared the phone lines in Boston were still down.

"You want to watch Charlie Brown Christmas?" he asked his father as he watched the silent TVGuide channel.

"No." Walter tossed the half eaten slice back into the open pizza box. "She hasn't called to wish me a Merry Christmas."

"Walter, the telephone lines are down," he reminded.

"But I really wanted to tell her hello," the older scientist said softly.

Peter patted his father's hand. "I know, Walter. I know."

* * *

_**A/N:**__ This chapter has been a beast to write. Ugh, I'm so sorry it wasn't done sooner._


	3. The Day After Christmas

**Chapter Title:** _The Day After Christmas_

**Pairing: **_Peter/Liv,__Astrid/Kashner, Astrid/Walter_

**Characters: **_Astrid F, Olivia D, Peter B, Walter B, Agent Kashner, Rachel (Dunham), Ella (Dunham), Gene_

**POV:**_ Astrid, Peter, Walter_

**Genres: **_Holiday, Family/Friends, Humour, Romance_

**Spoilers: **_Seasons One & Two, 'A Very Fringe Christmahanufestivus_

**Warnings:** _mild sexual humour_

**Part of a Series?:** _Yes, "A Very Fringe Holiday"_

**Chapters: **_3/4_

**Word count:** _1615_

* * *

It was the day after Christmas and while they had the day off, Astrid and Agent Kashner were still meeting up early in the morning though they certainly were going to be working. This morning Kashner had bought her a pumpkin spice frapaccino with a shot of white chocolate and caramel drizzle.

"A girl could get used to this," she warned as she climbed into the car and took a sip.

"That's because you deserve it," he said, smiling at her.

She blushed and pulled off her earmuffs and mittens. "Okay, so I'm dying to know—where are we going today? And no surprises! I'm terrible with them!"

His smile faltered for the slightest of seconds. "Okay, I guess I'll tell you."

He paused dramatically and she squealed, "Don't make me wait!"

"May I take you ice skating?" he finally blurted out.

"I'd love to!" Astrid said breathlessly, clasping her hands to her chest. "I don't have skates though."

"It's okay, you can borrow some." He looked at her shyly. "I also have a picnic lunch in the trunk."

"Oh my gosh, Ben. This is so nice. You really didn't have to," she said, gently touching his shoulder.

His smile broadened. "It's okay. We're going is a really special place back in my hometown so I wanted it to be a perfect day out."

At this, Astrid froze. "Hometown?"

His hand touched hers. "Yeah. It's small, but it's nice. The kind of place you'd want to settle down in."

Astrid turned her attention out the window to hide how large her eyes were. Wait a second—what exactly was going on here?

* * *

Peter was in the middle of cutting up an apple for Walter's morning snack when his cell phone rang. He crossed his fingers, hoping that it wasn't Olivia or Broyles calling to tell him that he and his father were needed to look at crop circles. However he didn't recognise the number listed in the ID and he answered apprehensively.

"Hello?"

An automated female voice began to speak. "Will you accept the charges for a call from '_HeyIt'sAstridPickUp_'?"

"Yes," he said, starting to smile.

"Please hold."

A few seconds later, Astrid's voice came on the line. "Hello?"

"Hey, Astrid. Where are you calling from?"

"A gas station. Agent Kashner's taking me out ice skating in his hometown."

"Cool. When are you two getting married?" he asked, grinning.

"Shut up, it's not a date," she said, sounding embarrassed and irritated. "He's in grabbing a map. I think he's a little lost."

"When I went over to water your plants, I couldn't find your cell phone charger anywhere. Are you sure you didn't take it with you?"

"Very!"

The next thing he was slow to ask because deep down he was worried how she would answer. "You having fun over there?"

"Yeah. Yeah…"

He swallowed hard. "You're not going to stay there, are you?"

"What? No! Why would you _ask_ that?"

"You know, it's so hectic here…" he said pointedly.

"I couldn't think in his office until I cluttered it a bit and hulahooped on top of his desk."

Peter smirked. "Nice."

The next thing she said was unusually casual sounding, almost a shade nervous. "Is, um, Walter there?"

"He's in the bathroom—you want me to get him?" he asked, already taking a step towards the hallway.

"No, no, it's fine," she said quickly. "I'll, um, talk to you later. Agent Kashner looks like he's ready to go. Tell everyone I said hello!"

Before he could say goodbye, she had hung up. At that moment, Walter came back into the kitchen, quickly tucking his shirt into his pants.

"Who was that?"

"Astrid."

"Damn it!" His father shouted, nearly causing him to drop the phone. "This is why I don't think washing hands is important. I wasted all that time because I knew you would complain about it, but now it's caused me to miss this phone call!"

Peter frowned. "Was there something you needed to ask her? Because we can always call her back on Kashner's cell phone."

"No, I didn't need to talk to her," Walter snapped nastily. "And when is she coming back? She's got a damn job to do!"

* * *

Olivia and Rachel had very generously invited the Bishop men over for dinner that night and once cramped inside the small kitchen at a table, Peter tried getting his unusually quiet father to liven up a bit.

"Isn't this a nice dinner, Walter?" Peter asked, trying to prompt some type of reaction from his father.

"The chicken isn't dry," he mumbled, poking around his plate with his fork.

Olivia glanced at Peter. "Would he like something else…?"

Peter rubbed Walter's back. "No. He's just feeling a little sad."

"Why are you sad?" Rachel asked, pouring more ketchup onto her daughter's plate.

"I'm not," Walter insisted, trying to slip his green beans into his pocket.

"Do you need a hug? I sometimes need a hug when I feel sad," Ella asked, chewing on a French fry.

"No thank you, my dear," his father said, setting his fork down and huffing.

"He misses Astrid," Olivia explained gently.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Rachel asked, pausing in lifting her cup to her lips.

Ella looked even more curious. "Is that the cow you have at Aunt Liv's work?"

"She's my assistant." Walter stood up from the small table and said politely, "If you would please excuse me, I think I need to urinate."

Rachel choked on her water as Olivia pointed to the hallway. "To the left, Walter."

"Who's Astrid? Is she pretty?" Ella chirped.

Olivia smiled at her niece. "She's a lady I work with."

"She must be pretty if your father misses her," Rachel commented to Peter, twisting her hair around her finger.

"Walter also misses the mold he has growing in the bath drain," Peter grumbled, spearing his green beans.

"Mold?" Ella gasped.

"I cleaned it out earlier last week," Peter assured the three Dunhams quickly.

Rachel offered him more dinner rolls. "Why would your father have mold growing in a bath drain?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "He's trying to culture penicillin in case one of us catches the flu."

"Why would he need mold?" Rachel asked, cutting up the green beans on Ella's plate.

Peter was taken back for a moment, not realising someone could be an adult and not _know_ this. "Penicillium _is_ a type of mold. It's blue mold commonly found on food. Actually, some cheeses have it intentionally added, like blue cheese."

"Ugh," Rachel said looking at the bottle of blue cheese salad dressing she'd been using.

Olivia was obviously fighting back a smile as she stood up from the table. "I just had a feeling that Walter's pouring out all my bubblebath down the drain. I'm going to go check on him."

Ella chewed her chicken nuggets and smiled at Peter while Rachel went back to reading the bottle of salad dressing, obviously looking for the part of the ingredient list that said 'MOLD'.

Olivia came running back to the kitchen, her eyes large and wild. "Walter's gone!"

* * *

It was quiet in the lab and still, just the way Walter liked it. He'd slipped out the bathroom window at Olivia's flat and found the bus route that would take him to Harvard this late in the evening. It had been exciting but lonely to be in his lab by himself.

"Hello, pretty Gene. Are you as lonely as I am?" he asked the lovely cow who seemed very happy to see him.

"Why isn't she coming back until after the New Year? I wanted her to see my parties. And I wanted to see her face when I gave her the Christmas gifts I made out for her." He thought of the gingerbread Kersarge building he'd made her, which suddenly made him crave sweets, so he wandered back to the many work tables around the lab. He began rummaging through the drawers searching for something with lots of sugar. "And she always knows where the candy—oh!"

His fingers quickly pulled away from something that made his cheeks quite red. "Hello there. Have you been here the whole time?"

Wadded into the drawer was a sweater—one of hers—and he felt his breath catch in his throat at the fact he'd nearly touched it.

He cleared his throat nervously. "I wouldn't have talked so much to myself had I known you were listening. I don't want to sound crazy."

He gave a nervous laugh, hesitantly he touching it and when nothing happened, he lifted it from the cool drawer. It was soft and fluffy, perhaps made of cashmere? The sage colour made him think of the moss on Pacific Northwest trees and he lifted it to his face. It smelled heavily of mandarin oranges, a pleasant surprise here in this cold lab. It made him think of the summer sun, of the California coastline when the waves came rolling in, of sea gulls gliding above the pier, of warm laughter at his jokes… Was this her perfume, her lotion, or something she'd baked?

He held the sage green sweater up and after a moment of thought, awkwardly put it on. It was warm and very soft and he winced slightly as he heard the back seams of the sleeves tear from the torso, but once he buttoned it up (the hem was right above his navel) he decided it smelt too good to take off. He went over to Gene's stall, rubbing his hands along the sleeves and lay down in the large pile of hay in the back of his cow's residence.


	4. The New Year

**Chapter Title:** _New Year's Eve_

**Pairing: **_Peter/Liv,__Astrid/Kashner, Astrid/Walter_

**Characters: **_Astrid F, Olivia D, Peter B, Walter B, Agent Kashner_

**POV: **_Olivia, Astrid, Walter_

**Genres: **_Holiday, Family/Friends, Humour, Romance_

**Spoilers: **_Seasons One & Two, 'A Very Fringe Christmahanufestivus_

**Warnings:** _mild sexual humour_

**Challenges:** _New Year, New Year's Eve_

**Part of a Series?:** _Yes, "A Very Fringe Holiday"_

**Chapters: **_4/4_

**Word count:** _2375_

* * *

The hotel room phone rang on Thursday afternoon, surprising Astrid as she'd only received one phone call there the entirety of her stay. She'd just spent the better part of the morning finalising the presentation she'd been working on with Agent Kashner and come back to the hotel early to take a hot bath and veg out in front of the tv. Half undressed to go soak in the tub, she answered the phone somewhat apprehensive.

Agent Kasner didn't wait for her to say hello. "Astrid!"

Unconsciously her free arm went up to cover her chest, unsure if he wanted to take her out on a date again. That's what the ice-skating and Christmas dinner had been after all. She'd realised that far too late into the game and now felt awkward that she'd accidentally been leading him on.

"Yes?" she asked nervously.

"The committee will see us today!" he blurted out.

She spun around to look at the files stacked neatly on top of the hotel's tv. "What? But I thought—"

"They want to get it out of the way!" he said excitedly.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Can you be ready in forty minutes?" Kashner asked.

"Yes. Yes!" A large smile crossed her lips.

"I'll meet you down in front."

"Okay!"

* * *

Olivia leaned against her kitchen counter, phone to her ear as she listened to Ella watching the Barbie movie she'd received for Christmas in the living room. On the second ring, Peter picked up.

"Hey," she said and after a slight pause he replied,

"Hey."

She made a face. "This is Olivia."

"I know that. What do you want?" he asked and she blushed, wishing that he didn't leave her so tongue-tied.

"I want to know if we're doing anything for New Year's Eve," she said boldly.

"_We_?" he scoffed.

Olivia frowned, but she of course knew he was simply teasing her. "Peter, you're being difficult. I meant like last year when we…"

She thought of the kiss they'd shared at New Year.

"Had a party," he finished for her.

"Yeah! Like that. Rachel and Ella will probably crap out around nine-thirty and I'm a night owl anyway, so I thought I might…" She felt nervous and began to fiddle around with cord on her sweater jacket. "Well, I mean if you both aren't doing anything…"

"No, I think Walter wanted to have a New Year's party. Hold on." She could hear him hold the phone away and he yelled out, "Walter!"

"I wasn't touching the toaster!" Walter hollered back from some distance.

Peter paused for a moment. "We'll talk about that later. Olivia wants to know if we're having a party."

"For what?"

"New Year's!" Peter shouted, sounding exasperated.

"Yes! At my lab!" Walter called out. "Does she need directions?"

Olivia chuckled as she could practically hear Peter rolling his eyes. "Yes we are. Say 9 o'clock?"

"I'll see you there!"

* * *

Astrid sipped on the black coffee she brewed in the FBI's break room, trying to quell the last of the shaky nerves from going before panel of higher up agents and directors, weaving stories of what had happened without it sounding like an episode of the X-Files. She and Kashner stood by the front entrance of the Seattle field office, breathing silver puffs of air into the late afternoon.

"I can't believe how well that went!" she finally admitted, her words giddy and quick.

Kashner didn't look so happy though and she studied him nervously, wondering what was wrong. "Astrid…"

"Yes?" she said softly.

"I have a friend who can fly you into Boston tonight if you want."

The paper cup of coffee fell from her hand and splashed all over her shoes. "What?"

"He's got to make a delivery…you'd be on a cargo plane," he mumbled, kneeling down to wipe at the leather of her loafers with his handkerchief.

"I could go home?" she asked breathlessly.

He looked up at her and gave her a hopeful smile. "Or you could stay the extra week."

"I have to…"

"See Dr Bishop?" he finished as he stood up.

She startled—had that been what she really missed about Boston? She could see the hurt in his eyes and she threw her arms around him into a tight hug.

"I really liked getting to work with you," she admitted and it was true—she hadn't had such a cushy job since starting the FBI.

But she loved the unpredictability of working with the Bishops and Olivia. She loved the cases she helped work on, the disgusting stuff brought into the lab and the overall lack of privacy with her belongings. She loved getting to sing along with the jazz albums Walter had and the stories Peter told. She loved going home each night exhausted, counting her blessings and she loved that the people she worked with felt like family.

"I enjoyed it, too," he said with a soft sigh. "You know, if you ever get tired of playing mad scientist, there's always a desk for you here."

She smiled and touched his hand. "Thank you, Ben. It really means a lot to me to go home."

Out of his jacket pocket he pulled a small, folded piece of paper with the even, neat writing she'd come to expect from him; obviously he'd had the information and Astrid wondered for a moment if he'd been debating giving it to her in the first place. "Here's his name and number."

* * *

"What are you _wearing_?" Peter asked as Olivia walked into the lab at nine-fifteen that evening.

Olivia looked down at her horrible Christmas sweater. "I thought I might let it out of its cage."

"Hello Agent Dunham!" Walter called out and hurried over to her. "We have treaties!"

She allowed herself to be led to the lower tier of the lab where an assortment of food had been laid out on an autopsy table.

"A cheese platter. Cinnabons. Rocky road ice cream," Walter presented, waving his hands over it as if they were on a game show.

"You may not believe it, but this is fancier than last year," Peter insisted.

"You're right. I don't." She put her hands on her hips and gave an amused smile to him. "I think you were just clearing out your fridge and didn't want to throw the food away so you brought it here."

"I'm not going to share the eggnog with you," Peter threatened, showing the thermos that last year had seen a lot of action.

"I apologise," she said taking a small chunk of gruyere.

"Peter! There's a Spongebob Christmas special on!" Walter shouted happily from the direction of the tv.

Peter and Olivia shared knowing smiles and after a moment, she gave him a quick peck on the lips before hurrying off to join Walter on the couch.

* * *

Sitting in her car in the airport's parking garage at eleven-fourty, Astrid stared at something on her passenger seat. "Aw what…"

Her cellphone charger sat innocently and she realised it must have slipped out of her purse when she was running off to catch her plane three weeks ago, and she muttered dark and ill intentions towards it as she started up her car. On the trip to the Kersarge building at assorted stop lights she took the opportunity to hook her dead phone up to the charger in the cigarette lighter. Instantly, it lit up and sang her an obnoxious tune, then displayed she had seven unheard messages and sixteen missed calls. As she drove, she began to listen to her voicemail on speakerphone. The first message was about an order she'd placed online, the second was from her landlord stating that he'd seen a strange man leaving her apartment but Astrid knew that it was just Peter going over to water her plants, the third message was a drunken wrong message that made her laugh hysterically so she listened to it twice before moving on to the fourth.

Instantly Peter's voice filled the car. _"Hi, Astrid. This is Peter."_

To her surprise another voice joined in. _"And Olivia."_

"_We just wanted to let you know that we appreciate everything you do here,"_ he said and she brought her hand to her heart as she said,

"Awww…"

"_And that you always have something friendly to say,"_ Olivia added.

"_We miss you."_

"_Hurry back!"_

Astrid felt her eyes tear up, completely touched that they'd thought to call her and give her acknowledgement for the efforts most of the time she was sure they never noticed. She listened to it again and decided the moment she saw her two co workers, she was going to give them the biggest hugs imaginable—whether they wanted them or not!

The next message started off with breathing for a few seconds and Astrid glanced down at the phone with an awkward smile, but laughed the second the person started talking.

"_Oh! Yes! Hello. This is Walter. I was calling to…"_ (there was a pause) _"To talk. It's just nice knowing you're here in the lab with me. Well, I mean to say, I know you're not here right now, but when you're here it's nice to not be alone."_ (there was another lengthy pause and then he continued, though his tone was somewhat darker.) _"So I suppose you're having a good time with __**him**__. Does he do things, like bring you coffee? I bet he doesn't. I think of those things and he doesn't even use the scientific method for smelling fumes! You're supposed to waft them towards you with your hand. He didn't. That's why he passed out, you know." _Astrid felt her eyes widen at the trash-talking. _"But I know you're clever enough not to inhale directly. What were we talking about again?"_

The message ended and she gave a confused chuckle as she forwarded to the next message. Again, it was Walter.

"_Hello, this is Walter. As I was saying, I thought I would tell you that the ice cream machine is on the fritz again. I have no idea what's wrong with it—maybe we have to get it fixed at the ice cream machine shop."_ (he laughed.) _"There's no ice cream machine shop. That was a joke. I was wondering if you might come back today? It's Christmas Eve and we'd like you back at the lab. It's boring and Peter wrecked your hula-hoop. It split in half and Agent Dunham tried to tape it back up, but it looks silly. But don't cry! I'll get you another one. I'm not boring you, am I? I really wanted to have a Christmas dinner with you. Peter and I are going to be alone tomorrow night—we're going to have dinner with Olivia and her family on the day after. Not Boxing Day. Did you know that Boxing Day is always the first weekday after Christmas? It's celebrated mostly in the British Commonweal—"_

The message ended yet again before he'd finished and she realised that she'd really missed him rambling in his tangential way and she smiled even more when she realised the final message was from him as well. This one however was definitely straighter to the point than his previous two.

"_Agent Farnsworth, this is Walter Bishop. I'm calling to tell you I want you to come back to Boston. I miss you and I need you here. Please come home."_

Her breath caught in her throat and she hit the reply key to make sure she hadn't heard it wrong; she was just minutes away from Harvard and it simply wouldn't do to think he'd said—

"_I miss you and I need you here,"_ his recorded voice affirmed. _"Please come home."_

Astrid pressed 88 on her speed dial, which was set to call the laboratory phone and to her relief someone picked up after the third ring.

"Hey! It's—"

"Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" the voice on the other end asked.

"What?!"

Walter giggled. "This is a prank call!"

"Walter, this is Astrid," she said, shaking her head.

"Where are you?" he asked in a completely sober tone.

"I'm pulling into the parking lot right now—"

* * *

Walter dropped the laboratory phone, sprinting out if the basement room as he heard Olivia and Peter shouting after him. As he ran down the hallways of the Kersarge building, he thought over all the things he wanted to tell the young agent:

"_Peter bought me salt water taffy for my Christmas stocking!"_

"_We have a friendly cat next door!"_

"_I don't like wild rice!"_

"_I left up the Christmas decorations until you retuned!"_

"_A dog in the super market parking lot barked at me this morning!"_

Outside, he knew it was dangerous to be running across the slippery sidewalks and parking lot, but he really wanted to see her! He finally spotted headlights and he dashed across the frozen asphalt to the car he recognised as Agent Farnsworth's.

"Hey!" she called out cheerfully as she stepped out of the car.

He didn't have time to greet her, however; he's lifted her up in his arms and they were kissing—

"Walter!" she gasped after they finally broke away.

"I missed you," he said nonchalantly as he set her down and she took a step back to lean against the car.

She opened her mouth to say something but then her eyes landed on his open coat. "You're wearing my sweater!"

He pulled his parka closed. "It smells like mandarin oranges."

She laughed and leaned back into the car to retrieve her purse and phone. "I was opening a can for your lunch and I spilled the juice all over it. I stuffed it in one of desk drawers…"

"Oh. I thought it smelt of you." He bit the inside of his cheek and admitted, "Also, I tore it."

"I kinda figured," she said, shaking her head fondly as she shut the door and locked her car.

He glanced down at his watch and saw that it was three minutes into 2010.

"Happy New Year," he said, smiling as they started to walk back to the laboratory.

Her small hand slipped into his. "Happy New Year, Walter."


End file.
